UnsolvedMassie Brown Pittman

Massie Brown Pittman, a 36-year-old Davenport tavern owner, was found slain in her Davenport home at 621 N. Harrison on Monday, February 17, 1969. Massie was found in her bed with puncture wounds to her face, stomach and neck. In a strange twist of fate, Massie’s husband, Hubert Pittman, also had been murdered several years earlier.

Meyer Terry Washington, 44, was charged with the fatal shooting of Hubert, 28, after what authorities said was an argument over a girl. Herbert was killed instantly when he was shot in the chin by a bullet from a .45-caliber revolver outside a Davenport tavern on Saturday night, December 8, 1962. Meyer phoned police headquarters and gave himself up after the shooting.

On Tuesday, November 4, 1969, prior to be sentenced to life in prison for another crime, 25-year-old Edward Lee Williams made a statement to the Scott County District Court saying one of the witnesses at his trial could provide information about a number of crimes in Iowa, including Massie Pittman’s murder.

The witness, Edward said, could give information on at least three murders, the robbery of a Danville, Iowa bank, a $16,000 holdup of a chemical company, and the theft of M-16 rifles from the Rock Island Arsenal. County Attorney Edward Wehr said he would ask for the transcripts of Edward’s statements and also ask Edward for a private interview.

Edward had been convicted the preceding May in the slaying of 47-year-old Virgil Slater of Moline, Illinois.

If you have any information about the slaying of Massie Pittman, please contact the Davenport Police Department at 563.326.7979.